Pitt Team Finds Protein That Keeps Balance Between Tumor Cell Growth and Suppression

UPMC

Using an approach that combines molecular biology, genetics, cell biology and physiology, and pathology, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified a protein that governs a key molecule involved in orchestrating the balance between tumor growth and tumor suppression. The findings reveal a regulatory pathway that could provide new targets for future cancer treatment. Kruppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) is one of four molecules known to play an important role in transforming the body’s mature cells back into stem cells, said senior author Yong Wan, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Cell Biology, Pitt School of Medicine and UPCI. His team began studying KLF4 to better understand its biology. Learn more at http://bit.ly/zMH1qy